SAB PARTNERS WITH ‘STOP HUNGER NOW’ TO BENEFIT UNDERPRIVILEGED UNIVERSITY STUDENTS THIS MANDELA DAY

Johannesburg. 17 July 2015. Alleviating hunger and making history by being the first country to package one million meals in a single day is the goal of Stop Hunger Now Southern Africa’s (SHN-SA) campaign this Mandela Day.

The South African Breweries, in partnership with SHN-SA, will make its contribution towards this goal. At least 400 South African Breweries (SAB) employees aim to pack almost 13 000 dehydrated meals for the international volunteer based meal packaging and results oriented nutrition programme, which expanded into South Africa in 2009.

SAB employees in particular will work towards SHN-SA’s Feed a Student campaign. This is an extension of SAB’s partnership with SHN-SA in 2014 which benefited more than 500 underprivileged students from two local universities.

Members of SAB’s executive team will be present at the Sandton Convention Centre to encourage teams who will work in four shifts of 67 minutes, each packing an average of 3 240 hydrated meals.

“Poverty is a reality for many students attending our country’s tertiary institutions. Their unfortunate circumstance mean that they more often than not go without any sustenance required to get them through the day and to help them concentrate on their studies.

“If we help to feed some of these students, we would have made a small dent in their journey towards achieving their aspirations and towards them becoming members of our society able to make a meaningful contribution to the country. And we hope to make this contribution this Nelson Mandela Day, ” says Monwabisi Fandeso, SAB Director Corporate Affairs and Transformation.

With the exception of the SHN-SA initiative on Nelson Mandela Day, SAB employees around the country will spend 67 minutes on several other projects.

  • In East London, SAB employees will expand vegetable and herb gardens at Ntinga Ntaka community gardens to improve their income.
  • In Cape  Town, staff from Newlands Brewery and the Cape Region will assist with upgrades at Mothers Unite, an NGO which focuses on children and the development of women in Lavender Hill, an area with high unemployment, poverty, domestic violence, child abuse, HIV/AIDS, drug/alcohol and gang related crimes. Duties will include painting, paving the playground, establishing a vegetable garden and erecting a jungle gym.
  • In Gauteng, staff will support a programme to empower women who are infected with HIV/Aids with sewing and beading skills at the Nazareth House in Yeoville, Johannesburg.
  • In the North, Limpopo and Mpumalanga, SAB will empower communities within a recycling theme they have named “Mandela Clean-up”, where the 67 minutes will be rolled out throughout the month.

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